In theory I have an idea that might work, basically it involves a trianlge from a fixed object (say a hovering helo). If we use an alpha channel on a texture to feather the edges and set the material right, again in theory, it should work? We would also have to attach a light source though to make it 'bounce' off of buildings/floors, etc...I've also tried a random rotation of an object which should work great for a spotlight (kind of like 20th Century Fox type deal)... Anyways i will test it out and see what i come up with... i dont hold much hope though, since you guys are way more experianced than me and your having trouble.. it doesnt exactly inspire confidence lol...but hey if it IS possible, someones gotta figure it out right?

ive found that lights wont animate, so if you are thinking of a spotlight that rotates it wont work.

you can make a spotlight look from a series of omni lights, placed aproximatly 1/2 meter apart or less starting from .25 meter far atenuation working your way up to whatever you want. whats in the SS below goes from .25 to 3 meters. it crashes the soed when trying to adjust the lights themselves so the color is max's, and if you save as a .3dp without changing the lights it will crash when opening the .3dp. another issue is in a long line of the lights, as you look down it it will be as bright or brighter than the sun in the game

but if your looking for a static light with no animation, that doesnt go far then this will work for something like a billboard light or a similar small spotlight affect. just start your numbers from a much smaller one then gradualy move up to the final size. a 1 meter line could have 5 to 10 lights to get the proper affect....

the max file i have no longer has the lights included, i shouldve thought to atleast save the light part of it though before removing.....

just start by puting the lights in a line, keep the first few close together while gradualy moving apart until they are about 1/2 meter then keep that distance for the rest of the lights in the series. when it gets imported to the soed and you see small balls of light then go back to max and move them closer together and test again. you can also make the beam go wider in a shorter distance by doing every other number or every third, or make it thinner by doing each one twice. play with it and you may figure out a better way than i did.

its tedious work though, and as you can see from the ss is i messed up the size increments of a few which are the brighter parts of the beam.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day. --George Carlin

Xx_jet_xX wrote:the max file i have no longer has the lights included, i shouldve thought to atleast save the light part of it though before removing.....

just start by puting the lights in a line, keep the first few close together while gradualy moving apart until they are about 1/2 meter then keep that distance for the rest of the lights in the series. when it gets imported to the soed and you see small balls of light then go back to max and move them closer together and test again. you can also make the beam go wider in a shorter distance by doing every other number or every third, or make it thinner by doing each one twice. play with it and you may figure out a better way than i did.

its tedious work though, and as you can see from the ss is i messed up the size increments of a few which are the brighter parts of the beam.

NP i like the look of yours though, almost looks like light shining through the fog or mist. Thanks again for the help

That was what i was trying to get, but the lights wouldnt rotate, i couldve made a long cone and selflum it or something else like that with the material but then it would look as bad as the DFLW spotlight. great for a distance lousy for up close. anyway thanks for the compliment Loa, and lets see what Zeek comes up with.....

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day. --George Carlin